Legislators lashed out at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday for what they called persistent neglect of its duties in not ordering a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Opponents of nuclear energy in the legislature asked EPA officials to respect two previous censures by the Control Yuan regarding its failure to monitor the potential impact on the environment caused by the construction of the power plant.
"EPA officials should not have neglected the necessity of conducting a new EIA for the controversial construction project," said KMT legislator Jao Yung-ching (
Jao said he was baffled by the EPA's insensitive response to a censure from the Control Yuan in 1995 over its failure to conduct a new EIA for the plant after the projected power output was changed.
The original EIA for the plant was issued conditionally in 1991 by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC), which supervises the nuclear power industry, but the EPA did nothing due the fact that there were no laws mandating EIAs at the time. Relevant regulations were passed in 1994.
While the KMT-led central government continued to support the project, the EPA received another censure from the Control Yuan for other reasons in 1999.
"Properly managing radioactive waste is an essential condition of the AEC's approval of the EIA in 1991. The construction should not have been launched until a comprehensive plan for dealing with such waste was presented," said Jao, adding that Taipower's failure to properly manage such waste had weakened public confidence.
Anti-nuclear activists and scientists have said the environmental impact should be held as a top priority when building nuclear power plants, because Taiwan is located in an earthquake-prone region.
After the 921 earthquake, anti-nuclear activists urged a halt to construction for what they claimed was its questionable ability to resist the destructive power of an earthquake, especially at Kungliao township (
Activists said the plant is being built on a sand dune and coastal alluvium along the north coast, where sand, silt and gravel cover a clay layer underground, citing a survey completed by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union's Taipei Chapter (TEPUTC,
As the controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant continues, officials from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) in the US also expressed concern about the nuclear safety issue, and urged the new government to conduct a fresh EIA.
Rocky Liao (
"In developed countries such as the US, people and animals are kept more than 50km away from closed-down nuclear power plants to avoid risks from exposure to radiation," said Liao, adding that this principle was not applied in Taiwan.
Liao said their conclusions had been sent to DPP Chairman Lin I-hsiung (
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